The world’s largest medical glove maker warns of a possible product scarcity as demand from the US and Europe spikes.
On March 29, Top Glove Corporation, a corporation that produces 20% of medical gloves worldwide, predicted a shortage of product due to demand from the US and Europe about to skyrocket, making their production capacity. can not respond.
Mr. Lim Wee Chai Ban, Executive Chairman of Top Glove Corporation, admitted they had delayed delivery to deal with an overload of orders, according to Reuters.
“The number of orders that we have received over the past few weeks has nearly doubled compared with the production capacity of the corporation. Most of the orders are from the US and Europe,” he said. According to him, every day Top Glove Corporation can produce 200 million gloves from natural rubber and synthetic rubber (also know as nitrile gloves).
More than 600,000 people have been infected with nCoV in 202 countries and territories, and the US has overtaken China to become the world’s largest outbreak, while the death toll in Europe is at its highest.
“Some customers have ordered up to 10 containers per month, but now they have suddenly increased to 20,” Lim said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the long-term lack of personal protective equipment is one of the most urgent dangers to efforts to prevent COVID-19 acute pulmonary fluids.
“A shortage will inevitably happen. Our clients all have a 100% increase in orders, while we can only increase production by 20%. So the shortage will range from 50 to 80%. “, Mr. Lim said.
Mr. Lim added that the surge in demand will continue for the next three months, but orders will continue to reach high levels for the next nine months as soon as demand from Asian countries has started to decline slightly.
In response, Top Glove Corporation has increased delivery time from 30 days to 150 days. Lim said the group will make sure that every customer will receive the product.
“We try to control the quantity so that each customer does not buy too much,” commented Mr. Lim.
The executive chairman confirmed that the corporation continuously assembles more machines every week, and can increase production by up to a maximum of 30%. In March, the group worked to increase capacity to reach maximum capacity in April.
Top Glove Corporation is eventually recruiting about 1,000 workers to increase capacity. Usually, the corporation recruits workers from Nepal, but now they have to hire workers in Malaysia due to immigration and immigration restrictions.
“We need about 10% more workers. Due to the immigration and immigration ban, the corporation cannot hire people from Nepapl. So we have no choice but to hire local workers, especially in the process packing, “said Mr Lim.
